reflectev

[reflectev]

Django Unchained

I’ve never seen a Quentin Tarantino film before, and I think Django was a good choice for my first one.

Frankly, this film was fun as fuck.  I had a fantastic time and the 2 hour and 45 min run-time practically flew by.  All the actors did fucking amazing.  I was particularly struck by Christoph Waltz’s performance.  I’ve never seen one of his films before, but I will definitely seek more of him out in the future.  His character was just so engaging and I felt like the actor was having a blast playing off of equally good actors, especially Jamie and Leo.  And I just now realized that Stephen was played by Samual L Jackson???  I had 0 idea that old fuck was Sam Jackson until I looked up how to spell Quentin Tarantino.  Wild!

Django definitely makes me want to watch more Tarantino films.  I loved this group of actors, the costuming was phenomenal, and the pacing was perfect.  Django’s little horse strut at the end has been running on a constant loop in my mind all day.

It was just so fun.  Highly recommend.

[reflectev]

The Power of the Dog

I can’t stop thinking about this goddamn film!  My parents brought up The Power of the Dog last weekend when I went for a visit and they said that they turned it off after like 15 minutes.  And now, all I can think is, “How?!!!”  I was captivated from frame one.  The acting is phenomenal, the setting is tense, the story is intriguing, the characters are gorgeously flawed in the best way.  And that ending???

Watch this movie, because more films like this need to be made.

***SPOILERS***

I absolutely loved the way that this film set up later scenes with a mishmash of seemingly innocuous scenes that don’t really seem that important at the time.  It really made me realize how little of the film time was wasted once I’d completed the movie.  Every shot and piece of dialogue turned out to be important.  Fucking amazing!!!!

I loved all the build-up for the Branco Henry and Phil reveal.  I loved how absolutely distraught I was when Rose took that first sip of alcohol, and how worried I was for her when she sold Phil’s hides to the natives.  I loved Peter’s dissection of that poor rabbit, his secret horseback ride to find the cow on the trail, all the offhanded comments about anthrax.  I loved how we see Phil’s crew comment on him never wearing gloves and that he sees something something in the hills that no one else can (except Peter).  I loved Phil’s relationship with his brother and parents.  I loved the scenes with the governor and his wife.  I loved Phil’s “You didn’t play?” to Rose, and the piano/banjo battle was fucking awesome!  I loved how gradual Phil’s fascination with Peter was.  And when Phil was dying and George was trying to get to the doctor, I loved how Benedict Cumberbatch’s acting made me cry because he couldn’t get the rope he made to Peter and to say goodbye.  Ugh!!!

And I absolutely loved that last shot where Peter smiles, because it was all worth it.

Fucking phenomenal movie.  Seriously, watch it.

[reflectev]

Tick, Tick... Boom!

This movie musical is based on a musical about a man’s journey writing a different musical who’s only famous because of another musical he wrote based on his life, and it’s directed by that guy who wrote that other famous musical... And he did such a good job!  I am amazed by how he was able to make that absolute meta mind-fuck I just wrote into a gorgeous piece of art worthy of being made and seen.

This is an absolute masterpiece.  Go watch it.

***SPOILERS***

Rent has a special place in my heart.  The film adaptation was a family favorite in my childhood home. Because it uses my dad’s favorite types of music (rock and musicals) I think it made it easier for my dad to digest some of the more progressive content, which helped my queer ass so much growing up.  Rent reminds me of road trips where my family would belt out the lyrics to the fantastic soundtrack going 80mph down the interstate.

And in those twenty years, I never once thought about who the man was who wrote it.

I never knew he never got to even see his own work performed.  I never knew how true to life the plot of his musical was for him.  But now I do.

Everything about this film was exceptional.  The acting, the music, the visuals.  The way these character felt like people in their late twenties living in New York in 1990.  It felt real, but in a fantastical way.  I loved it!

Lin Manuel Miranda did a fantastic job getting the story across without spoon-feeding you every little detail or wrapping it up in a shiny little Hollywood bow.  It felt very true to a John Larson musical.

[reflectev]

Luca

This movie is just a big metaphor for growing up queer in a heteronormative society.  Giulia and her dad are iconic.  That is all.  Go watch it if you haven’t already.  It’s pretty fucking cute.

[reflectev]

Love Hard

I don’t know why I put this new Netflix movie on last night.  I hate Love, Actually.  I dislike sappy hallmark-y Christmas movies in general.  And I’m starting to hate Christmas altogether since it’s so ingrained in capitalism.  So, again, why did I turn this on?  I genuinely have no idea.  But I did.  

Was it good?  No.  

Was it okay?  Sure.  

Would I recommend you watch it?  Not particularly.  

But if you’re looking for a christmas!au fanfic come to life, here you go.  It’s perfect.  You’ll probably love it.

*SPOILERS AHEAD*  (But honestly, you can pretty much guess how this story goes from the first frame.  I was never surprised.  And that’s kind of sad.)

Okay, Love Hard, we fucking get it!  Looks don’t matter and honesty is important.  You really don’t need to spell it out for us.  

I felt similarly about the unnecessary preaching in Dumplin’, and maybe I’m being a little too hard on both Love Hard and Dumplin’.  But it just drives me crazy when some movies feel the need to reinforce the moral of the film like 20 times.  All that preaching could be better spent engaging in the characters and relationships a bit more so that we actually find ourselves invested in the story.  It’s not that hard of a concept.  

The characters in Love Hard are boring people with surface level personalities.  

I know like three things about Nina Dobrev’s character (who I can’t remember the name of even though I watched it last night).  1. She’s allergic to kiwi.  2. Die Hard is her favorite Christmas movie. and 3. She thinks the song Baby, it’s Cold Outside has rapey vibes (can’t believe this was actually a plot point *rolls eyes*).  And you want to know why I remember these things and these things alone about our movie’s dear nameless main character?  Because the movie reminded me every four seconds.  So. fucking. dumb.

Also, this movie’s plot was just straight-up cringe-y.  A female writer for some kind of news publication (????) finds out she’d fallen for a catfish when she makes the spur of the moment decision to fly across the country to visit him for the holidays, and then she has to stick around to find a good enough story for her boss or she might lose her job?  Seriously?!  When are people going to stop using fake dating apps and romance bloggers in their plots?  It never works because it’s so fantastical and wish-fulfilment-y that I have to shudder.  

Whatever.  It’s stupid fun, I guess.  But still... I think this trope should die a fiery death.  And soon.

Okay, that’s all I’ve got for you.  I thought the guy who played the catfishing love interest (again, I don’t remember his character’s name) was a pretty good actor.  I’d be okay with seeing him in more things in the future, maybe something that would better utilize his talents.  I loved the scene where he climbed the wall at the gym a little too much (because damn he’s fast and nimble, and I really need to go to the gym).  But other than that, Love Hard was underwhelming and a kind of a waste of time.  

I still can’t believe I clicked on it last night and sat through the whole thing.  I suppose I kept searching for something, anything to praise about it, but even the few praises I could give it wouldn’t set this film apart from the other schlocky romcoms thrown on netflix for us to waste our time on.  It’s nothing special.

[reflectev]

Dumplin’

This movie felt so damn forced and I didn’t really like it.  All the Dolly Parton stuff was cool though.

[reflectev]

Something Borrowed

The fact that I hadn’t heard of this movie before when it has some of my favorite actors in it (Ginnifer Goodwin and John Krasinski) is honestly just so fucking bizarre.  Especially when the premise was a girl (Goodwin) who’s in love with her best friend’s fiance, and how she’ll have to navigate the lead up to the wedding with the help of her nice guy childhood best friend (Krasinski).  Like, dude, even if there was a hint that a friends-to-lovers trope was going to occur, I’d be watching it.  That shit slaps.

So yeah, so confused why I’d never seen this movie before.  But I’m glad I waited until I was more mature before I found it, honestly.  This is not your average trope-y romcom, and being an adult with an adult brain when I watched it, meant that I could appreciate that deviation from the norm.

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

‘Cause see, Goodwin’s and Krasinski’s characters don’t get together.  And the crazy thing is, I never wanted them to.  Not once.  The movie never let me and I was okay with that.  I was always rooting for the fiance, because he and Goodwin’s character were meant to be together.  Something Borrowed is not a friends-to-lovers romcom.  This movie was about friendship and romance and overcoming your insecurities and fears to be with the person you love.  And it worked so. freaking. well.

And Krasinski’s character?  Anyone else get aroace vibes, or is that just me looking for aroace representation in every little thing?  But come on!  His supposed “love confession” was more about missing his best friend since he moved to London.  That moment was so sweet and human, and I’m very glad the film gave his speech the time and drama it deserved.  They potentially could have let his character disappear from the film entirely after a certain point, but they didn’t.  He wasn’t just there to be the “other” love interest or the helpful gay friend of the main character.  He was a fully-realized character who went through a complete arc and I loved that with every fiber of my being.

All-in-all I thought this was a very solid film about love in the 21st century.  And Ginnifer Goodwin can do no wrong.

[reflectev]

The Handmaiden

How can you analyze perfection?  Impossible.  This film was gorgeous in every aspect of the word.  The atmospheric setting, the flawless acting, the deeply flawed characterization that made me love every single second of dialogue.  This film is not for everyone, but I don’t care about everyone.  This film was made for me and I genuinely can’t stop thinking about it.  I loved it so, so much.

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

Okay, now let’s talk about Chekhov’s Gun.  If you don’t know, the term Chekhov’s Gun refers to the dramatic principle of writing a new element into the story with a purpose unknown to the audience until it all comes together in the end.  This also means that any new element that appears has to end up being significant to the plot somewhere down the line.  

The Handmaiden has about a thousand Chekhov’s Guns, and they are executed with flawless precision.  

The absolute dread I felt when I realized they were paying off all the plot threads and going back to show us things we missed...  I just knew we were going to see what was in that basement.  I knew.  I knew and I was absolutely dreading it in the best way possible.  And then we get to the basement and the film fucking delivered on that dread.  Absolutely incredible scene. Awful, but incredible.

This film is perfect.  Fight me.

[reflectev]

Free Solo

Disclaimer: I am a 28-year-old autistic female.  Please take this into account as you read my review for this film.  Thank you.

***

As a person whose main source of exercise is climbing, I’m shocked at how long it took me to watch this award-winning documentary.  So glad I finally did.  Everyone should watch this.  Genuinely.  It’s life-changing.

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

I literally couldn’t stop gaping at my screen.  Everything about this documentary is ridiculous in the best way.  At one point in the film Alex said something particularly insane and genius, and I was like... wait, are they pulling a fast one on all of us?  Is this actually a mockumentary and none of us noticed?  Because, seriously, what the fuck is wrong with every single real-life person in this film?  They’re insane.  But they’re right.  But they’re wrong.  But they’re totally sane.  But they’re not even real, right?  Are they real?  Is this a real thing that happened?

I’m still trying to wrap my head around it all, and I really don’t know what else to say.

[reflectev]

Heathers

Disclaimer: I am a 28-year-old autistic female.  Please take this into account as you read my review for this film.  Thank you.

***

Heathers was... weird.  I think it was genius, but I also don’t think it had a very cohesive plot.  And maybe that’s why I think it was genius???  I don’t know...

Instead of figuring all that out, let’s talk about the lack of parental figures in this film.

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

For a movie about teen suicide, I was very surprised by how little we see of the victims’ parents.  Usually films dealing with heavy “teen-related” topics have a big arc for a parent or an adult, and it is honestly so fucking annoying.  When I watch a movie or show made for teens, I don’t want to follow some random adult through a quarter of the run time.  The lack of parental figures with any kind of authority made Heathers feel like a movie made for teens and teens alone, and I loved that.  And also, by not including any parental figures for the titular Heathers, those characters almost seemed like they were randomly spawned NPCs in Veronica’s and Jason’s world.  And that added to the movie’s surreal mystique.  

The parents we do meet seem out of touch with the reality of what the next generation’s youth is going through.  And if that isn’t a universal human experience, I don’t know what is.  We’ve all felt that lack of understanding from an adult at some point in our lives.  Hell, I’m feeling it now.  And that’s why I probably noticed the lack of parents in this film and took note.  It made me feel seen in a way I didn’t know I needed to be seen.

All in all, good movie.  Had a good time.  Would recommend. :)

[reflectev]

I think what I liked about the gun metaphor in Fight Club as opposed to, like, beating Tyler to death to "fight his inner demons" or whatever, is that he realized that he was the one holding the gun. He recognized in that moment when he saw Tyler holding the gun that he was both Tyler and himself. And then he accepted that about himself. He accepted that he was Tyler... and then he shot himself because he's Tyler. The acceptance was the bullet and the message of that scene for me was that only once you accept yourself can you grow and change. Sure, it'll hurt like a bitch and you might have scars after, but you'll survive. You'll be fine. He even tells Marla that when she fusses over his neck. "I'm... fine. I'm actually... fine." Like he was pleasantly surprised by it. (Norton's such a good actor btw)

TLDR- Fighting your demons isn't always the first step. Sometimes you have to accept your demons first, and then you can grow and change.

[reflectev]

Fight Club

Disclaimer: I am a 28-year-old autistic female.  Please take this into account as you read my review for this film.  Thank you.

***

Okay, so I finally watched Fight Club for the first time in my life.  And I have... thoughts.

Of course, the plot of this film was spoiled for me like a thousand times over the years as it is referenced in nearly all of the media I consumed growing up.  So, naturally, I went into Fight Club assuming that I would already know how things were going to go and what the point of the film would be, and that I would just get to watch amazing actors do some amazing acting.  But honestly... I was wrong, I think.

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

See, I knew that Edward Norton and Brad Pitt were the same character going into the film and since Norton usually plays loveable losers (or, probably more accurately, unlovable losers?) and Brad Pitt is... well, Brad Pitt, I thought this movie’s main message would be that hyper-masculinity is toxic and you should let your emotions out and be who you are.  And... the message sort of is that.  But it’s in a way that’s a bit more nuanced than I had assumed going into it.

I mean, you can say that Fight Club is about how it’s wrong that men think they have to take out their frustrations with the world by beating each other up.  And that’s kind of accurate.  But that’s only one of many messages you can get out of this film, and I don’t think that’s the main message.  Because Fight Club is also about men who have to live in a world with women and all the confusion that comes with that.  It’s about men who grew up thinking they were special, when they weren’t.  It’s about men who didn’t grow up with a father, about men who can only fall asleep after they cry, about men who resent other men in higher positions than them, about men who have tits and no balls.  I think it would be more accurate to summarize Fight Club as a film about the inner turmoil that straight white men living at the turn of the century went through, and possibly how men still feel today, twenty years later.

(Oh, and to be plain, it is inner turmoil.  The ending of the film makes it very clear that everything that has happened in last two hours is just a metaphor.  The bombs aren’t real.  While you can take the story seriously, you’re not really supposed to take everything that happens in this film as reality.  It’s a parable.  And I think it’s a good one.)

Toxic masculinity has been such a hot button topic over the last decade or so.  But the way that some people talk about it is very... black and white.  And weird.  And gross.  I feel like if someone lets toxic masculinity run their life, they’re almost written off as stupid, or unfeeling, or even evil.  And I think that’s a shame, truly. Fight Club doesn’t portray the toxic masculinity of their main character and his army of brawling men as intrinsically evil... and that’s just so refreshing.  The Narrator’s thoughts aren’t inhuman, but extremely human.  The movie also doesn’t admonish one of its only female characters, Marla Singer, for being drawn to that kind of toxic masculinity, which I enjoyed immensely.

As Marla and “The Narrator” hold hands at the end of the movie and watch the destruction of mankind before them, they don’t seem to grieve or apologize or weep.  Norton just turns to Helena Bonham Carter and says something along the lines of, “You met me at a weird time.”  The use of “me” in that sentence shows that Norton’s character is on the path of redemption without having to go into what’s next for him.  While that time in his life when he was Tyler Durden had come to an end, he still acknowledged that he was that man at one point.  And I think that’s what the point of the movie is:

You will make mistakes, because you are human.  You will think bad things, because you are human.  You will hurt people, because you are human.  You are human.  Accept that and grow from there.